


Getting Back To Normal

by Evie_adams273



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Draco Malfoy Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Smut, Non-Explicit, Referenced Trauma, after the books, before Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, guys i think i started to write smut, i could direct you towards so much bad smut, i don't write smut, i imply im talking about sex, i think i'm having a crisis, it isn't a major part of the scene, not really - Freeform, past trauma, please don't come at me for bad writing, references to Half Blood Prince, studio ghibli movies, supportive Astoria, this isn't smut, this was a venture for my asexual self, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:35:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28895208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evie_adams273/pseuds/Evie_adams273
Summary: Draco has things in his past that he isn't quite ready to display, even to Astoria.
Relationships: Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Getting Back To Normal

**Author's Note:**

> Content Warning: discussion of past trauma

Astoria dropped her shirt behind her as she ripped it over her head and crashed back into Draco with a smile. Draco kissed her again, hands wrapping her shoulders and back. He didn’t reach for her bra clasp, but Astoria didn’t mind. She could quite happily carry on like this for a little while longer. She reached for shirt buttons, hesitating as he tensed.

“Is this okay?”

“No.”

Draco pulled away from Astoria, slipping out from between her and the wall and stumbling across the room. He stopped when he saw that Astoria hadn’t pursued him. She watched, a concerned frown building on her face as her boyfriend collapse on the bed, head in his hands. His breathing kept quickening. He kept running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself as he did so. Spells and charms and potion ingredients and everything that he recited at his most scared times. At the moments that he had previously confessed to Astoria to be the moments where his world came crashing in.

Astoria grabbed her hoodie and pulled it over her head. She made her way, as slowly as she could manage, into Draco’s eyeline, and then stopped.

“Can I sit next to you?” she murmured.

Draco’s head jerked up. “What?”

“Can I sit next to you? I won’t do anything.”

“Okay.”

Astoria stood and, at an equally slow pace, settled on the bed beside Draco. He reached to take her hand. She let him, running her fingers over his knuckles as he clung to her more tightly than he had ever done in their relationship. His eyes had filled with tears.

“I’m sorry,” he croaked.

“Hey,” Astoria murmured. “Hey, hey, hey. You haven’t done anything wrong. You don’t have to apologise.”

“I know you wanted–”

“It doesn’t matter what I wanted if you don’t want it too. Consent works both ways. If you don’t want to do this, we don’t do it.”

Draco nodded. He lay back on the bed, rubbing a hand over his eyes as they continued to fill with tears. Astoria waited for him to make the next decision or say something. They sat in near-silence for a few minutes, until Draco started to sit up again. He didn’t meet her eyes. The top button of his shirt had come loose and he let go of Astoria’s hand to fix it.

“It didn’t occur to me that I probably should have told you this when you told me about your Malediction,” he mumbled. “I think it slipped my mind that it would be relevant.”

“That’s okay.”

“Fuck,” the word was long and drawn out. “Fuck.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Astoria murmured. “It’s okay if you’re not ready, or never ready. That’s okay.”

Draco smiled bitterly. “If I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.”

“Then why don’t I make us some tea?” Astoria said. “It’ll give you a few minutes to think, and if you change your mind, then we’ll still have tea and we won’t talk about it. That’s okay.”

Draco nodded. Astoria stood up and made her way through to the kitchen. She switched the kettle on and reached into the cupboard to grab Draco’s favourite herbal tea. Astoria didn’t understand how his favourite part of it was the smell, given that it was liable to give her a mild headache, but she pulled a teabag out and put it in his mug. In her’s, she put something much more mild. She reached for the milk for her, only hesitating slightly when Draco appeared in the doorway and settled at the table. He had a few scraps of parchment between his hands that he kept tearing up with an air of complete distraction.

Astoria settled opposite him with the two steaming mugs, pushing one across to him. He took it with a grateful smile and closed his eyes to hover his face over the wafting steam rising from the water. He took a deep breath.

“In Sixth Year,” he croaked, “I ended up in the Hospital Wing for a decent period of time, after I was attacked by someone.”

Astoria’s mouth fell open. “Who…”

“It doesn’t matter. They didn’t know what they were doing, they’ve since apologised, and I’ve forgiven them because I want nothing else to do with them.”

Astoria nodded. She waited for him to start speaking again rather than asking about what had happened. She pulled the hoodie closer to her as a chill blew through the kitchen. Someone had left the window open.

“The scars didn’t heal fully,” Draco went on. “It’s the reason I only wear shirts and turtle-necks and things that cover my neck. I don’t want the world to see it.” Pause. “Not that you’re the world. You’re different. Just that I wasn’t expecting tonight. And I didn’t – yes. You get the idea.”

“I do,” Astoria nodded. “I understand. It’s okay. If you want to show me or tell me more, or if you don’t, that’s your decision and I won’t try and change your mind either way. We both have a past. We both have things that we haven’t shown off to everyone else. Recovery, acceptance of this, it’s fucking hard.”

Draco took in a mocking gasp. “Astoria, did you swear?”

“I did,” Astoria smiled. “Now, do you wanna watch a movie?”

“I still don’t know how to work the thing.”

“Then it’s a good thing I do.”

They settled on the sofa together, curled up to watch Spirited Away, Draco’s choice of film. Astoria had introduced him to Studio Ghibli, and now that made up most of what they watched. Not that they watched things very often: they weren’t particularly accustomed to the idea of movie nights. They spent many of their evenings reading together, or chatting, but Astoria could tell that Draco wanted a quiet night. She leant her head on his shoulder and grabbed one of the blankets to drape over themselves. Draco put an arm around her and took her hand.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> So yes. This is a bit different to what I normally write. It was a random idea that's popped into my head one evening and then I wrote it because why not. It's not everything i thought I was gonna have, but I couldn't fit the second scene idea in and I don't mind that.
> 
> Thanks for reading  
> Kudos and comments much appreciated  
> Twitter: @evie_adams273
> 
> Black Lives Matter  
> Fuck TERFs. (Biden hasn't erased women you overdramatic cunts)


End file.
